Panel assembly



INVENTORS Sept. 13, 1960 J c. YOUNG ET AL PANEL ASSEMBLY 2 sheets-sheet 1 Filed June 25, 1956 w W Y 0 W J MARV/N s. YOUNG United States Patent PANEL ASSEMBLY John C. Young and Marvin S. Young, Tampa, 19121., as-

signors to Venetian Folding Door Corporation, Tampa, Fla., a corporation of Florida Filed June 25, 1956, Ser. No. 593,509

11 Claims. (11. 160--159) In another type of multi-panel door the edges of successive panels are hinged together in series. The independent panel construction has advantages over the edgehinged panel construction; among these being that costs of manufacture are lower, the fact that when the door is partly open the panels are spaced apart like slats of a louver, thus allowing circulation of air between the panels, and the circumstance that many users regard the appearance as more pleasing.

Multi-panel doors are usually suspended from an overhead track, which gives rise to the diflicutly that there is considerable side sway at the bottom during the opening and closing movements. A bottom track is usually provided to eliminate the side sway, but the bottom track adds to first cost and to expense of installation; it catches dirt, makes cleaning the floor more difficult,.can catch the narrow heels currently fashionable on womens shoes, children playing on the floor can catch their fingers in it, and it is unsightly.

One of the specific purposes of our invention is to prevent such side sway and so eliminate the need for a bottom track.

Our means of attaining the objects and advantages indicated, and others, will appear from the following description and drawings. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevation showing our retractile multiple panel assembly mounted in a doorway, in fully extended position, certain parts being broken away to show concealed features;

Fig. 2 is a larger scale plan, approximately as indicated at 22, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan corersponding to Fig. 2, but showing a fully retracted position;

Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section, indicated at 44, Figs. 1 and 2, on a smaller scale;

Fig. 5 is a bottom view, looking up, as indicated at 5-5, Fig. 4, on a smaller scale;

Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical section, indicated at 66, Fig. 1, on a larger scale, and omitting the handle;

Fig. 7 is a perspective of our retractile multiple-panel assembly disposed horizontally, not associated with any specific structure, and-about half extended;

Fig. 8 is a perspective corresponding to Fig. 7, with the panel assembly almost fully retracted;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail, indicated at 9-9, Fig. 1; Fig. 10 is an elevation indicated at 1010, Fig. 9; and Fig. 11 is an elevation indicated at 11-.-11, Fig. 9.

V The preferred embodiment of our invention is shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 applied to a door, and in Figs. 7 and 8 H Patented Sept. 13, 1960 ice apart from any specific application, illustrated in each instance as conveniently constructed with a single half panel 11 and three full-panels 12, 13 and 14. When our panel assembly is vertically mounted (as shown in Fig. 1 with a full-length traverse member 22 at the top thereof) the half panel is hinged at top and bottom of one edge, asby brackets 16 and 17, to one post 20 of the doorway, and such of the full panels as the weight of the assembly requires are suspended from the lintel 21 by the traverse member 22. All panels are connected at their opposite ends (top and bottom in Fig. 1) by linkages hereafter described. Appropriate handles such as 24 and 25 are secured to opposite sides ofthe panel assembly.

Opposite ends of the panel assembly (top and bottom in Fig. 1) aremoved in synchronism by a positive rotary driving connection between the linkages (the shaft 50 Fig. 1), and this synchronous movement eliminates the necessity for a full-length traverse member at the bottom of the ,opening as well as minimizes frictionin traverse member 22' and in the guidelchannel 63 in bracket 17. Thus, the principalfunction of traverse member 22 becomes that of supporting the weight of the panel assembly and the principal function of the guide mechanism carried by "bracket 17, becomes that of minimizing to-and-fro movement of the bottom, of the panel assembly when said assembly is fully extended as shown in Fig. 1, while both traverse member 22 and guide mechanism carried by bracket 17 serve to prevent pivotal movement of the panel assembly as awhole around pintle in the upper bracket 16 and 41 in the lower bracket 17.

', Linkages at top and bottom of the panels 11 to 14 are so devised as to bring all the panels into the close stacked position of Fig.3, at right angles to the door- Way, when the panel assembly is fully retracted. The linkages at opposite ends are alike, except for suspension and guiding members employed when the assembly is hung vertically and except, for obvious reversal of parts. In the specific construction illustrated, each linkage consists of, a series of flat bars called half panel plate 30 and full panel plates 31, 32 and 33 interconnected in pantograph style with' another series of ,flat bars called half links.3 5 and 36, and full links 37 and 38. The full links are'each pivoted at mid-length to the middle of 'the end of one full panel, and atends to edges of ends of adja cent panels. Pintles 40 in the upper bracket 16 and 41 in thelower 'bracket17 anchor the respective linkages to the door post 20. v

Herein the panels are illustrated as of hollow type construction, with plywood skin facings set apart according to p'anel thickness, and suitably fastened at top and bottom to the panel plates, for example as shown in Figs. 4 and 6. .In order tobring the panels into the closely juxtaposed face-.to-face stacked position, all at right angles to the doorway, Fig. 3, the links and half links are slightly longer between pivots than their corresponding panel plates and half panel plates. Referring to Fig. 3, the distance from the center pivot 43 to an end pivot 44 of the same panel 12 is slightly less than the distance from pivot 43 tothe end pivot 45. of the next panel 13, and so on throughout the assembly. Thus, when the panels are stacked a right triangle is formed having the hypotenuse 4345, long leg 4344 and short leg 44-45 If the panels are so made that panel plates are not needed, the links may be pivoted directly to the ends of the panels.

When our assembly is used as a door, suspension may be from the overhead traverse member 22 by any suitable means; for example, the well-known plastic button such as 46 held on a vertical pin 47 by a spring washer 48, Fig. 6. The pin 47 is headed beneath the panel plate 33. The bottom arrangement is .the reverse, with a shorter pin 49.

Motion of the upper and lower linkages is synchronized by a subassembly consisting of a torque shaft 50 extending through a panel (panel 13 in the instance shown) but rotatable with respect thereto, and fast to the upper and lower links (links 38 in this instance). Thus the upper and lower linkages are forced by means independent of the panels to move simultaneously. In detail, our preferred mechanism comprises a hub 52 welded to the link 38 and keyed at 53 to the end of the shaft. The hub extends through the adjacent panel plate 32 and is rotatable with respect thereto. The top of the torque shaft 5th can be extended slightly so as to be guided in the throat of the traverse member 22.

As previously mentioned, the effect of the synchroniz-, ing torque shaft 50 is to bring about uniform movement of both ends of the panel assembly when being extended or retracted, thus doing away with any need for separate traverse members at either top or bottom of the assembly, except where such traverse means might be used to support the weight of the panel assembly when the assembly is installed with the panels in vertical position, Fig. 1.

Figs. 9, and 11 show the guide mechanism embodied in bracket 17. To aid the description, the pin connecting the free end of plate 30 to the link 37 is numbered 55 and the pin connecting link 35 to panel plate 31 is numbered 44. A down-curved bar 60 is pivoted at one end at 61 to the under side of the half panel plate 30 and closer to the pintle 41 than to the pin 55. The bar 60 carries beneath its free end a stud 62 slidable in a short guiding slot 63 parallel to the traverse member 22, the slot being in the horizontal portion of the bracket 17. This slot is very short relative to the travel of the panels; for example, in a household size doorway such as illustrated in Fig. 1, about 30 inches wide, the slot 63 will be about 2 /2 inches long. Another down-curved bar 66 has one end pinned at 67 under the half link 35 and its other end pinned at 68 to the bar 60. The pin 61 and 67 are oifset outwardly from the lines 41-55 and 4144 respectively, and the pin 68 is olfset from the center line of the slot 63, all offsets serving to compensate for the difference in movement of the half panel plate 30 and the half link 35, and preventing binding. By this relatively small linkage, which, together with bracket 17, is completely concealed by the panel assembly when said assembly is completely retracted in stacked position, the angular motions of the half panel 11 and of the half link 35 are always maintained at the same rate in opposite directions while the panel assembly is being extended or retracted, eliminating any tendency of the pair of members 1135 to pivot as a unit about the pintle 41. The small linkage also serves to minimize to-and-fro movement of the bottom of the panel assembly when fully extended.

It will be understood that the full length traverse member 22 as shown in Fig. 1 is used inthat type installation as a means of supporting some of the weight of the panel assembly solely because it is convenient and not objectionable to do so and that other means of supporting the weight of the panel assembly, such as rollers or casters mounted at central pivot points at the bottom end of one or more panels, could be used and that guide mechanism carried by bracket 17 could be substituted at the top of the panel assembly for bracket 16, such as is shown in Figs. 7 and 8. It also will be understood that slot 63 in bracket 17 can be run at any desired angle instead of parallel with the said bracket to give any desired pitch when the panel assembly used as an awning and that bar 60 and the bar 66 would be made sufiiciently strong to carry the weight of the panel assembly when the awning is lowered and the panel assembly is fully extended.

As shown in Figs. 7 and 8, our panel assembly is a complete unit ready to be installed in any type installation simply by attaching brackets 17 to whatever type structure it is to be associated with. In the case of awnings,

no additional means of supporting the weight of the panel assembly is required. In the case of partitions or screens for dividing rooms, or sections of rooms, and in the case of closures, such as doors, for openings. in walls, either a traverse member may be used at the top of the panel assembly or one or more rollers or casters can be used at the bottom of the panel assembly for supporting the weight thereof.

It will be understood that the foregoing description of preferred embodiments of our invention is by way of example and not by way of limitation. The scope of the invention is indicated by the following claims.

We claim:

1. A retractile door of vertical panels comprising in combination lazy-tongs at top and bottom supporting said panels and adapted to be pivotably anchored at one end of said door, and a vertical torque rod rigidly secured to an element of the top lazy-tongs and to an element of the bottom lazy-tongs at a point remote from said one end of the door, thereby constraining said elements to equal turning movement.

2. In a retractile closure comprising a plurality of vertically-disposed panels supported by an overhead track, pivots central of the tops and bottoms of the panels, corresponding'series of links at top and bottom of the closure having pairs of alternate corresponding links carrying the panels and pairs of alternate corresponding nonpanel carrying linlcs disposed between the panel carrying links cooperating for combined rotary and translatory movement, a single panel pivoted at one edge of its ends for rotary movement only and at the other edge of its ends for rotary and translatory movement; and a vertical torque shaft rigidly connected at top and bottom to corresponding non-panel-carrying links of said series at a point remote from said single panel, thereby to transmit turning force between the links to which it is rigidly connected, causing synchronous motion of the top and bottom series of links.

3. A folding closure, comprising a plurality of separate panels, a plurality of links connecting the opposite ends of the panels to one another to form lazy tongs for movement between an extended position in which the panels are disposed in edge overlapping relation across an area to be closed and a retracted position in which the panels are stacked in face-to-face relation, means for mounting the panels within the area and guidingat least one of the lazy tongs for movement in a fixed linear path across the area, and a torque bar mounted at a point on said lazy tongs remote from said mounting means secured to corresponding links at opposite ends of a panel for synchronizing the angular movement of the laxy tongs.

4. A folding closure of the character defined in claim 3, wherein said torque bar comprises the pivotal connection between the corresponding links and said panel.

5. A folding closure of the character defined in claim 4, wherein said torque bar extends within the interior of said panel.

6. A folding closure, comprising a plurality of separate panels, a plurality of links connecting the opposite ends of the panels to one another to form lazy tongs for movement between an extended position in which the panels are disposed in edge overlapping relation across an area to be closed and a retracted position in which the panels are stacked in face-to-face relation, bracket means adapted to be secured along opposite ends of the area, pintles on the lazy tongs received in the bracket means for mounting the lazy tongs about an axis aligned with corresponding pivotal connections thereof, a guideway in one of said bracket means, said lazy tongs also including links pivotally connected to one another and only the panel and links which are pivotally connected by said corresponding pivotal connection of the lazy tongs adjacent said one bracket means, a stud on one of the pivotally connected links slidable within the guideway to move the lazy tongs in a fixed linear path across the area, and a torque bar secured to corresponding links at opposite ends of a panel for synchronizing the angular movement of the lazy tongs.

7. A folding closure of the character defined in claim 6, including a guideway in the other of said bracket means, links pivotally connected to one another and only the panel and links which are pivotally connected by said corresponding pivotal connection of the lazy tongs adjacent said other bracket means, and a stud on one of the pivotally connected links slidable within said last-mentioned guideway to move the other lazy tongs in the same fixed linear path across the area.

8. A folding closure of the character defined in claim 7, including a traverse member adapted to be secured along the end of the area opposite the one bracket means and having a guideway therein parallel to the guideway in said one bracket means, and means on the lazy tongs adjacent said traverse member for guided movement in the guideway thereof.

9. In a rectractile panel assembly comprising a plurality of separate panels mounted on longitudinal pivots central to each end, a series of links adapted for pivotable anchoring at one end of the panel assembly and interconnecting the panels at the extremities of each end for combined translatory and rotary movement, the combination of a torque shaft mounted at a point on the panel assembly remote from said one end thereof and being disposed parallel to said panels and having a corresponding link of each series secured to each end of the shaft whereby the shaft and links secured thereto move as a unit to provide said combined translatory and rotary movement.

10. In a rectractile door comprising an overhead track, a plurality of panels mounted on longitudinal pivots central to each end, a series of links interconnecting the panels at the edges of top and bottom of each end for combined translatory and rotary movement and being adaptable for pivotable anchorage at one end of said door, and means for hanging some of said panels from said track, the combination of a torque shaft secured at each end to a corresponding link of each series at a point remote from said one end thereof and being disposed from top to bottom parallel to said panels, whereby the shaft and links secured thereto move as a unit to provide said combined translatory and rotary movement, and an upward extension of said shaft guided in said track.

11. In a rectractile closure comprising a plurality of vertically disposed panels supported by an overhead track, pivots central of the tops and bottoms of the panels, corresponding series of links at top and bottom of the closure having pairs of alternate corresponding links carrying the panels for combined rotary and translatory movement, a single panel pivoted at one edge of its ends for rotary movement only and at the other edge of its ends for rotary and translatory movement; and a vertical torque shaft rigidly connected at top and bottom to corresponding non-panel carrying links of said series, thereby to transmit turning force between the links to which it is rigidly connected, causing synchronous motion of the top and bottom series of links, a guideway parallel to said overhead track and extending from a point adjacent that pivot which supports the single panel for rotary movement only for a distance less than the thickness of the panel assembly of the fully opened door, a stud riding in said first guideway, a first bar carrying said stud at one end and pivoted at its other end to the bottom of said single panel at a position offset outwardly from the panel pivots, and an oppositely disposed bar correspondingly pivoted at its one end to'that link which is mounted on said first named pivot and at its other end to said first bar at a point offset from the center line of said guideway.

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